---
name: "Ted Tally"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ted-tally"
fi1m_id: "ted-tally"
imdb_id: "nm0848217"
tmdb_id: 57862
wikidata_id: "Q721671"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "9 April 1952"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-05T03:17:50.100274+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ted Tally

## Identity

Ted Tally

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ted-tally
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ted-tally
- **IMDb ID:** nm0848217
- **TMDB ID:** 57862
- **Wikidata ID:** Q721671
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Tally, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q721671, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848217/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57862

Writer. Born 9 April 1952 in North Carolina, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 9 April 1952, North Carolina, USA
- **Active:** 1991–2004
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 writing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Anthony Hopkins](https://film.one/person/anthony-hopkins.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 91 (1), 2000s 65 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 70 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Crime 2, Thriller 2, Animation 1, Comedy 1, Drama 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,414m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Tally, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q721671, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848217/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/57862

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Silence of the Lambs*](https://film.one/film/the-silence-of-the-lambs.md) (91)
- **Peacock:** [*Red Dragon*](https://film.one/film/red-dragon.md) (64)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ted Tally (born William Theodore Tally) is an American playwright and screenwriter. Born on 9 April 1952 in North Carolina, he was educated at Yale College and the Yale School of Drama, where he has also taught.

Tally is best known for adapting Thomas Harris's novel into the screenplay for *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Writers Guild of America Award, the Chicago Film Critics Award and the Edgar Award. His other screenplays include *White Palace* (1990), *The Juror* (1996), *Before and After* (1996), *All the Pretty Horses* (2000), *Red Dragon* (2002) and *12 Strong* (2018). He has also worked as a script consultant on *Shrek 2* (2004).

As a playwright, Tally's works include *Terra Nova*, which won an Obie Award, and *Coming Attractions*, which received the Outer Critics Circle Award. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *Shrek 2* (2004), Fi1m 80, Script Consultant — [page](https://film.one/film/shrek-2.md)
- *Red Dragon* (2002), Fi1m 64, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/red-dragon.md)
- *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991), Fi1m 91, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-silence-of-the-lambs.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Mission to Mars* (2000), Fi1m 50, Associate Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/mission-to-mars.md)

## Complete filmography (11)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *12 Strong* (2018), Writer
- *Madagascar* (2005), Creative Consultant — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/madagascar.md)
- *Shrek 2* (2004), Script Consultant — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/shrek-2.md)
- *Red Dragon* (2002), Screenplay — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/red-dragon.md)
- *All the Pretty Horses* (2000), Screenplay
- *Mission to Mars* (2000), Associate Producer — Fi1m 50, [page](https://film.one/film/mission-to-mars.md)
- *Before and After* (1996), Screenplay
- *The Juror* (1996), Screenplay
- *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991), as SWAT Team Member (uncredited) · Screenplay — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-silence-of-the-lambs.md)
- *White Palace* (1990), Screenplay
- *The Father Clements Story* (1987), Writer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1992: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *The Silence of the Lambs*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Edgar Awards 1992: Edgar Awards (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ted-tally